Process and apparatus for heating petroleum oil



A. OBERLE June 30, 1931;

PRocEss AND APPARATUS Fon HEATING PETROLEUM oIL original Filed April 19, 1925 i kmw,

i n.0 rd w H im M in section;

Patented .JuneA `30, 19,31

f ALFnEnioBERnE, 'or goHioAGo, AIriiiiriors AssrGNon; 'ro lUNIvnnsAnA0111.. rnonuors v Y lrnoonssmnnrriinnrus ronnnnrlnermnonnm on'.tv

Y This invention relates Vto.`improvements'I* inl. a. process for .heatlngpetfoleum .011, and ref ing charging stock ,in order to relieve there- 15 from' objectiona'l'ole"highboilingr point frac tions, and to improvethe" quahtyof the re-y sulting distillate. v The singlegure is af'diagranimaticslde elevational View At 1j, is Shown a* furnace iii. which. 'is

mounted e S`t11i2 lawine`posaifmed-V there above a rectifier orVH heat V exchanger 3;,

oily is introduced through theA pipe 4, regu!-` lated valve 5, and is charged by means a valve 18,v to thefheat exchanger 3 'Where itisl perinittedto collect,;the level in the'heat'ezey chamber vistaken; from' the lovverwportion.l

"thereof This oill flows over, andfis introtest 'combustionl gases which are supplied,

by means off` gas burners one ofy which t v Y e' Duringl this percolation-,ofthe .vaporous hydrocarbons through'.theoillnaintained thechaniber 3,'theoil is.- alsojbeing, heated Vdueto the' fact v that vit is positionedl'intthe. furnacefand during heatingis kept fin a" turbulent condition, 'diie ytohthe vpassageo'fthetoiil. vaporstherethrough; 'During .this vpercolation of the"vapors,fthereisjrelieveda Y showin at 11. H

fm This Ystill mayftake thefforrnof a' header type rboilerV having headersffat` the opposite.

ends of the furnace? and-connecting tubes in place ofthegcylindricalfstill shown. The ends of .the still 2 are removed *forj cleaning of 'the apparatus, parts.v

of 4Va pump G throughfa line l7 regulated changer being regulated b'yan overflow 'pipel 9 controlled bya valve 1Q. AThisov'erflovv` duced into the still`2 `.vvhich'is alsopositioned inthe furnace l, and is subjectedk to the hotf' purposes- In ythe still, the. ojilfis-subjected to av conversion temperature, .'.the vapors evolvedfpassingoif through .the vapor line 12w-t0 adephlegmator v13. Thegreater part` of the vapor liner12 lis positioned inthe stacku. 59 14, thus the vapors are introduced to Vthe dephigmsangfeiumn w slhbaaniany ai the.' ff

Vtemperatures atvvhichthey left the still, y t Thefdephlegmatorshown,"consists ofan l Y, s

upper and 'lowerhe'a'der 2land 1 6.: respective- 'f l 'diurn his passed through'the dephlegnia'to'r.y 1 `proceeding from one header toy the other, andbeing introduced either at the top o'rfbottoin' through ythe pipe 19 or l8controlled bysu`it` y ablevalves either to'ilovv in opposed direction to the'vaporsiwhich areA circulated therethrouglnbr in the samedirection as the ly,`connectedifby tubesfl'?. A cooling: rnevapors 'vfvhich'pass downwardly aboutfthe y tubes, 'and vwhich' are directed the spiral i plate 20L K @It is understood also, that this type vrofV dephlegl'nator may Vbe, replacedfbyriany other suitableconstructiongwhich Will serve to properly?dephlegrnate, the vapors, The

coolingtlnediuni used. to produceV dephleg.- mating actionrrnay. be 'alcoolvoih Waterror other liquid mediums.

TheV hydrocarbons after Vbeing subjected to the dephlegniatin'g" actionv of `'the dephlegniator llpass out through thefline 2lV controlled by a valve-.22fpand are Yintro.duced into thev bottoni ofjthefheat veXchange'r Vorr rectifier 3 ulrugh the perforated pipe 2s; nii this manner,A theyQar-el caused .to percolate up `through the'V o'ilV body-, r maintainedV in the.. .chamber 3," being subjected in; their passage throitgh'A this body vto thel rectifyfing. action of the the relatively'cool charging stock; Inf addition to the V.re"ctifyzirig effect ofr-thisoil -body'," there,is t'kheadvantage' o f theheatpex 55 v changejrvvhichtakesfplacebetwveen'thevapors. .l '7. and'oil body transferring considerable. fheat `to the incoming, charging Stock.V

from the charging stocky considerable light fractionsjor cutsv `Which passoff Wthithe.

denser 26 where the vapors are subjected to a final condensing action. Passing from the condenser coil, the oil is discharged through the pipe 27 in which is interposed a valve 28, into the receiving tank 29. rlhis receiving tank is equipped with a liquid level gauge 30, a pressure relief valve 3l, a pressure gauge 32, and a liquid drawoif line 33 controlled by a valve 34. The still 2 is equipped with ay residual drawoif line 35, regulated by a valve` 36 whereby the unvaporized liquid oil constituents and residual substance may be withdrawn from the still.

Try-cocks 37 are tapped into the end of the still at dii'lferentlevels in order to ascertain the height of the liquid maintained therein during reaction.

The advantages of the process are principally in the introduction of oil to the heat exchanger, where it is irst preheated due to the positioning of the exchanger in the turnace, and secondly, to the percolation of the hot dephlegmated vapors therethrough. Besides the advantage of preheating the raw oil, this percolation of the vapors through the charging stock serves to relieve the vapors of certain objectionable fractions which would normally pass over to the receiver.

This oil body in the heat exchanger or rectifier', also serves to absorb gases and hydrocarbon fractions, which would naturally be lost during the subsequent treatment of the distillate to produce refined gasoline.

During treatment of the oil, the apparatus is preferably operated under known superatmospheric pressure, regulated according to the character of the oil treated through the medium of valve 31 which maintains a substantially uniform vapor pressure upon the apparatus.

The process is economical in that the heat utilized toV convert the oil is efficientlyv used, due to the connecting line within the furnace structure.

By treating gas oil of 320 Baume to temperatures ranging from 700 to 900o F., a yield of from 50% to 70% of high grade distillate maybe obtained, the distillate hav- Y ng a gravity of from 480 to 52O Baume, and

yielding good quality gasoline of new Navy specification. The distillate is conspicuous in its low content of unsaturated hydrocarbons.

I claim as my invention:

l. A process of oil conversion, consisting in introducing the oil to a pool positioned in a heating means, and there maintaining the oil at a controlled level, passing the oil thence to a cracking zone also positioned in the heating means, and there raising the oil to a cracking temperature, in passing vapors evolved from the oil heated in said cracking acne to a dephlegmator, in subjecting the vapors in said dephlegmator to dephlegmation by cooling said dephlegmator, in thereafter returning the dephlegmated hydrocarbons withdrawn from said dephlegmator to the oil maintained in the initial pool, and in subjecting uncondensed vapors rising from said initial pool to final condensation.

2. A. process or oil conversion, consisting in initially introducing the oil to a pool positioned in a heating means, and there maintaining the oil at a controlled level, in passing the oil from said pool to and heating it to a cracking temperature in a crackinozone also positioned in said heating means,in passingv vapors evolved from the oil heated in said cracking Zone to a deplegmater, in causing dephlegmationof the vapors in said dephlegmator, in returning: the condensate resulting from the dephlegmation and dephlegmated vapors from said dephlegmator to said pool, in causing the dephlegmated vapors to percolate through the oil in said pool and in thereafter subjecting the uncondensed vapors to final condensation, and in maintaining a superatmospheric pressure on the oil undergoing conversion.

3. In an apparatus for cracking oil, the combination with initial and secondary Zones for raising the temperature of the oilvv to a conversion conditionA positioned in a` source or" heat, means for transferring' theV liquid oil from the initial to the secondary Zone and for maintaining a liquid level in the initial zone, a dephlegmator, means for transferring vapors evolved'Y :trom the oil which has been raised to a conversion temperature to said dephlegmator, means for circulating a cooling medium. through said dephlegmator, meansV for passing' the condensate and vapors from said Ydephlegmator to said initial heating zone, means for causing the vaporsV to p-ercolate through the oil body in said initial heating zone, means for condensing vapors withdrawnv from said initial' heating Zone, and means' for maintaining a controlled pressure on. the oil undergoing treatment.

l. An oil cracking process which comprises preheating the oil in an initial heating Zone, passing. the preheated oil to` a second heating Zone and subjecting the same to cracking temperature therein, removing vapors from said second heating zone and subjecting the same to dephlegmation, passing the dephlegmated vapors and condensate formed in the dephlegmati'on to saidl initial heating Zone, and removing and condensing vapors from said initial heating zone.`

5. An oil cracking process which coniprises preheating the oil in an initial heating zone, passing the preheated oil to a second heating zone and subjecting the same to cracking temperature therein', removing vapors from said second heating Zone and subjecting the same to dephlegmation, passing initial heating zone.

the dephlegmazedV vapors through the oil in said initial heating zone, combining condensate formed in the dephlegmation with the4 oil in said initial heating zone, and removing and condensing .vapors from said ALFRED OBERLE 

